Banking, business groups comment on Trump being elected President

Several banking and business organizations, including the American Bankers Association, Mortgage Bankers Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Financial Services Roundtable, have congratulated President-elect Donald Trump and expressed their willingness to work with his new administration and Congress to achieve shared goals for the nation. In addition, Timothy Q. Karcher of Proskauer Rose LLP has offered his analysis of the impact that a Trump presidency will have on Dodd-Frank Act reforms.

ABA. American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols remarked, "We call on the administration and Congress to come together and work for the common good. We look forward to working with members of both parties on policy solutions that will allow banks to help accelerate economic growth, create jobs, better serve their local communities and help their customers and clients succeed."

MBA. Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens stated, "Today our industry is operating in the safest and soundest lending environment ever designed." Noting the MBA’s desire to work with a new Trump administration to restore housing as a "lead economic driver," Stevens commented that "it is critical that President Trump focus on three main areas—ensuring an adequate supply of affordable housing, bringing first time homebuyers back into the housing market, and ensuring certainty in regulations."

U.S. Chamber. Thomas Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged that "Americans have just lived through a bitter, personality-driven campaign that exposed some deep divisions in our country." Indicating that the Chamber and its members are ready to help the Trump administration accomplish the goal of growing the economy, creating jobs, and lifting incomes for all U.S. citizens, Donohue said, "The number one goal of the Chamber’s political program this cycle was to save the pro-business majority in the Senate. Yesterday voters agreed, and chose pro-business majorities in the Senate and the House to represent them in Washington."

Platform on Dodd-Frank Act. As adopted in July 2016, the Republican party’s platform challenged the Dodd-Frank Act’s creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Among other things, the platform asserted that the CFPB was "deliberately designed to be a rogue agency" (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, July 19, 2016).

Moreover, addressing federal regulation in general, Donald Trump declared in his economic plan that, if elected, he would "issue a temporary moratorium on new agency regulations that are not compelled by Congress or public safety in order to give our American companies the certainty they need to reinvest in our community, get cash off of the sidelines, start hiring again, and expanding businesses. We will no longer regulate our companies and our jobs out of existence."

Various industry groups dissected Trump’s economic plan at that time (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Aug. 10, 2016).

Karcher’s analysis. Against this backdrop, attorney Timothy Karcher of the Proskauer Rose firm has offered his analysis of the likely impact the new Trump administration will have on Dodd-Frank regulatory reforms:

"Clearly, Dodd Frank has led to higher regulatory and compliance costs for all banks, and the criticism is that Dodd-Frank actually stifled growth by making it harder for banks to lend money."

"I think large portions of Dodd-Frank are likely to face significant pressure and potential reform in a Trump administration. During his campaign, Trump vowed to stop new regulations on banks, and indicated that he believed the regulatory environment for banks was unduly stifling. It’s probably too early to tell how President Trump, and Congress, will implement the changes or what form they will take."

"While candidate Trump hinted that he would repeal Dodd-Frank, I think it is more likely that it will be remodeled rather than eradicated. One of the results of Dodd Frank was to consolidate rulemaking, enforcement, and regulatory authority over a number of different enumerated consumer protection laws (TILA, RESPA, FDCPA, etc.), which were previously governed by different agencies, and I think it makes sense to keep those laws under a single regulatory umbrella."

"Some argue that the financial industry has gotten used to the reforms. The CFPB has been in existence for more than 5 years, and the financial industry has spent billions adapting to the new rules. To sweep the new rules away in favor of the unknown probably does not make much sense. Moreover, the CFPB is likely facing some structural changes in light of the recent PHH decision, and those changes could complement some of the changes President Trump and the Republican legislators are looking for. Time will tell."